Leviticus 10:1–20:2

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

10Now ^yNadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^zeach took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered ^aunauthorized¹ fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. ²And fire ^bcame out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. ³Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among ^cthose who are near me ^dI will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ ” ^eAnd Aaron held his peace.

⁴And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of ^fUzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” ⁵So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. ⁶And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, ^g“Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and ^hwrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. ⁷ⁱAnd do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, ^jfor the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

⁸And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, ^9k“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ¹⁰You are to ^ldistinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹and ^myou are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”

¹²Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the ⁿgrain offering that is left of the Lord’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for ^oit is most holy. ¹³You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the Lord’s food offerings, for ^pso I am commanded. ¹⁴But the ^qbreast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. ^15rThe thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶Now Moses diligently inquired about ^sthe goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, ^17t“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since ^oit is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? ¹⁸Behold, ^uits blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, ^vas I commanded.” ¹⁹And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, ^wtoday they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, ^xwould the Lord have approved?” ²⁰And when Moses heard that, he approved.

Clean and Unclean Animals

11And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ²“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ^yThese are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. ³Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. ⁴Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ⁵And the ^zrock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ⁶And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ⁷And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, ^ais unclean to you. ⁸You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹“These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. ¹⁰But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is ^bdetestable to you. ¹¹You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. ¹²Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³“And these you shall detest among the birds;¹ they shall not be eaten; they are ^bdetestable: ^cthe eagle,² the bearded vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴the kite, ^dthe falcon of any kind, ¹⁵every raven of any kind, ¹⁶the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the ^ehawk of any kind, ¹⁷the ^flittle owl, the cormorant, the ^gshort-eared owl, ¹⁸the barn owl, the ^htawny owl, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and ⁱthe bat.

²⁰“All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. ²¹Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. ²²Of them you may eat: ^jthe locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. ²³But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

²⁴“And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁵and whoever carries any part of their carcass ^kshall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. ²⁷And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁸and he who carries their carcass ^kshall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹“And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, ^lthe mouse, the great lizard of any kind, ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. ³²And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. ^mIt must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. ³³And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you ⁿshall break it. ³⁴Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. ³⁵And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. ³⁶Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. ³⁷And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean, ³⁸but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹“And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, ⁴⁰and ^owhoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

^41p“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. ⁴²Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. ^43qYou shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. ⁴⁴For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and ^rbe holy, for I am holy. ^qYou shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. ^45sFor I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. ^rYou shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

⁴⁶This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, ^47tto make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.

Purification After Childbirth

12The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then ^ushe shall be unclean seven days. ^vAs at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. ³And on the ^weighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. ⁵But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.

^6u“And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, ⁷and…